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This section is dedicated to anything and everything about hair!! From new naturals in the Natural Hair Diaries series, to unlimited useful information on regimes, products and reviews. There will also be feature guests and fellow natural hair bloggers talking about their various experiences.

I go by the name of Thandiwe, 19 and of Southern African origin a mixture of Zambia and Zimbabwe. I’m currently a university student. And most important I am a Child of God.

How long have you been natural?

I have been natural since 11th November 2011. 🙂

So, why did you decide to be natural, and how did you feel doing the big chop?

This is not my first time being natural, growing up in Zimbabwe, I was raised by my Grandmother for a few years and the only hairstyle she knew was keeping the hair short and so I grew up with that same hairstyle, attended a primary school that didn’t allow long hair so had to keep my hair short all the time.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG! SHORT HAIR WAS ALL I KNEW

I grew up clueless on hair care and when I arrived in England I decided to cut my hair for my first day in school, BIG MISTAKE, because I was mistaken for a boy for a good two years if people didn’t know who I really was. So I decided to grow it out and I started texturizing it but with little knowledge of hair care. My hair was covered with weaves and braids all the time and with that I rarely oiled it which was another mistake I made.

I decided to go to a professional for a professional retouch and haircut in 2010, since I was becoming a lady. The trend that year was short hair at the back “the Halle Berry look”.

"The Halle Cut"

It became my tradition to get a haircut every 2 months. Then 1st September 2010 I decided to cut my hair, I was just fed up so I went short. By the end of June I decided to relax my hair and within a month my hair started to look raggedy, unhealthy and the split ends were horrible! I ended up giving up on my hair and just used hair bands and curlers all the time until I went to University, I started thinking about how important my hair was and was pretty self-conscious about it.

When it was thicker...

Soo… on the 11th November 2011 I went to the barbers and the person who cut my hair was so shocked at the state of my hair.. I really hadn’t thought of cutting it all off but the barber was showing me bold patches and the way my hair was damaged so it was a spontaneous decision and I said cut it all off.

What reactions did you get from friends and family?

Funny enough I had cut my hair before a big weekend, I was going back home to see the family. And before that coincidentally all my friends decided to come and see me and they were first SHOCKED AND ANGRY but then they started liking it so within an hour it was a good haircut. My mum was shocked and I’m sure she really wanted to kill me but she thought it suited my head shape and it wasn’t bad. My dad’s reaction was the funniest he commented on how He had always wanted a boy and seems like I fulfilled that wish haha. The whole weekend I got the shocked look from friends back home, some didn’t even recognize me until they looked twice. I loved the feedback though. 🙂

What was your hair like before? i.e. texture, length, health

May 2011

The quality of my hair was pretty bad, it was thinning and I naturally have thick hair. It had this dirty brown look and the split ends.. I’m sure some reached down to the roots.., my hair was breaking every day and I tried treating it and all sorts but I think I was too late. It had become almost like straw just stuck on my head.

What have you learnt from the experiences you’ve had with your hair?

TAKING CARE OF MY HAIR IS VERY IMPORTANT

OIL TREAT, PROTECT THE HAIR AT ALL TIMES

Definitely NO MORE RELAXERS IN MY HAIR

What is your hair regimen and what are you staple hair products?

At the moment I have decided to use natural remedies like:

I put olive oil and carrot oil serum < I use these products to keep my hair oiled at all times

I do my best to remember to use a silk head scarf to cover my hair at night

Since it winter I use a lot of hats and head wraps to cover and protect my head from the wind and the COLD.

My friend Massera is Sudanese although she has different hair texture she taught me how I could use olive oil and garlic and one of the oil treatment and it actually works

What would you say to others who are thinking about doing the Big Chop?

I would tell them TO GO FOR IT ignore what other people tell you, and also it actually boosts your confidence and self-esteem and there is no time like the present to experiment!

It’s worth it!!

I am currently learning more about natural hair products to use for my hair and its fun!

Protective Style

Headscarf

It's so cold this winter!!

I hope you enjoyed reading Thandiwe’s entry and if you have any questions for me or Thandiwe please post them in the comment section below.

Be Yourself!

XOXO

Remember…

If you would like share your story and experience please don´t hesitate to contact me onmsmuneri@hotmail.com

Hey people!! So I’ve finally got the pics of my hair… its taken longer than I had planned but they are here and I can say I do love them courtesy of my sister Kim the photographer and she also did my make-up on the shoot :)… the location of the pictures were outside in … Continue reading →

Every naturalista has had to detangle their beautifully textured tresses… So here are a few tips on the best way to detangle your natural hair in order to cause little or no damage and breakage to your gorgeous strands.

Before we go any further… your hair should always be moisturized with either water (your hair craves this by the way), oil, or conditioner. This will make the whole process easier and minimize friction which is one of the causes of split ends.

Okay now that’s out of the way, before grabbing that comb, run your fingers through your hair to loosen up your hair and just incase you didn’t know your hands are one of the best if not the best tools to use when manipulating your hair… only use your trusty combs if necessary. (less is more)

Tip: When purchasing a comb always look out for the seams on the comb, these can be found on the inner part of the ‘teeth’ of the comb, the seams can catch onto your hair and cause breakage and split-ends.

There are different types of combs that you can use to detangle your hair…

Wide Tooth Comb with smooth tips

This is great for detangling and if your hair is longer it’s better to use a comb with longer teeth for less manipulation.

Another comb is the Denman® brush

This brush is great for detangling your hair during your shampoo-conditioning routine.

Tip: Your hair is most fragile and delicate when wet, so always take great care whenever you are detangling your hair..take your time.. no need to rush this process as laborious as it may be.

Hope this was helpful and if you got any questions just ask in the comment and I’l do my best to answer to the best of my knowledge or I can research for you 😉

So I was just browsing on youtube looking for ideas and little inspiration for my natural hair. Back in the UK I was very comfortable with having my natural hair out, I wasn’t at all Worried about being natural here in Spain… but when I arrived I found myself very self conscious especially with stares I was getting. Anyway I heard this video about natural hair, and it made me think what have got to be ashamed or embarrased about… God blessed me with beautiful hair, with its kinks, curls, 75% shrinkage haha (as frustrating as it is I love my hair), versatility and its ability to be moulded in whatever shape I want lol

Listen to this video!! This has officially become my Natural Hair Anthem!!!!

So I dyed my hair!!! Never really thought I’d do it since I became natural.. all I can say is I’m loving it (“,)

Before I did it i read soo many blogs, watched videos on youtube and asked a few people’s opinions so I knew exactly what i was going into, for many of you naturals especially for me getting the colour intensity in your hair is quite difficult because you need to use chemicals (which is sometimes if not always the forbidden word lol)

I still feel natural even with the colour in my hair…surprisingly my hair looks more healthy and has a sheen to it.. I thought I would feel guilty after putting the dye.. almost betrayal to the natural hair circle lol (a little too much but I trully felt like that lol) am I the only one who felt like this? lol

So for the colour I used SoftSheen-Carson Colour Confidence: Auburn.

No Ammonia!! 🙂

I chose the no Ammonia formula…here’s some useful info on AMMONIA:

Ammonia opens the hair shaft so that the dye can actually bond with the hair, and ammonia speeds up the reaction of the dye with the hair.

so yea don’t wanna spend to much talking about ammonia lol if you wanna find out more just google it.

It took me just over an hour to dye my hair and the colour came out so great. I just followed the instructions and left the colour to work for about 40 mins.

Putting the dye in my hair 🙂

After rinsing and deep conditioning I dried my hair with a micro-fibre towel. Whilst my hair was still damp I massaged my hair from scalp to ends with my penetrating hair oil and sealed with Coconut oil and Vatika hair oil. All I can say is I am very pleased with the results.

Dyeing my hair is the best thing I’ve done so far on my natural journey which has been 18months and counting (“,) not going to lie I have had some ups and downs along the way… especially with the amount of shrinkage which is about 75%+ of my hair lol I’m slowly beginning to accept and embrace my hair the way it is and not compare my hair to other naturalistas.

Okay.. my hair has been through so much over the past few years, but I’ll talk about just the past couple of months. I officially became ‘au naturelle’ last year on the 3rd of March so its been about 17months. Still can’t believe how fast time flies to be honest..It waits for no-one. The top picture is my hair after a twist out.. my hair is actually longer than this i just get the most intense shrinkage everrrr!! can be frustrating sometimes… and the bottom picture is just a simple/cute and classy protective style I love. the scarf underneath is satin (minimise breakeage) and just a normal black scarf with a bun on the side.

So yeah since I became natural it drove me to want to use only natural things… so I started making my own shampoos, hair moisturizers and recently I made this aaamazziinnggg “shea-cado” whipped body butter (I posted a pic a last week on my twitter account you can check it out ther (“,) my twitter is @MsMuneri)

Becoming natural is probably one of the best decisions I’ve made..it has encouraged my to become more conscious especially about the things I eat… At the moment I have to admit I am a struggling Vegan if there is such a thing lol I have have my good days and then I have my weak days but I am getting there… I’ll definitely be blogging about that soon *sigh

Anyway since I’m just getting started with blogging I’ll leave it here… for now I’m just kinda gettin a feel of the blog-world lol make sure you follow me (“,)

So its Thursday… trying to think what I’ve done this week to get closer to accomplishing my dreams… hmm
there are so many tings that need to get done but it’s so annoying that the progression of most thing need money, Any Ideas of creating some sort of income would be great (“,)

~Anyway, don’t wanna spend too long on the computer need to get on… but yeh I’m getting ready to move to Spain so excited can’t contain myself!!! I will definitely keep you posted on how that’s going with update pics of my journey in Spain 😀

I’m soo excited about this lol I just discovered wordpress and I love it.So this is now the new home for all my blogs (“,) I’ll transfer my last blogs onto here, so if you’ve read them they’re the same but for those who haven’t feel free to read and comment.

Hope you enjoy my new blog… got so many things in store on here so follow.. follow … follow…me on this journey.